


I'll wake up every morning as long as it's with you

by proserpine_in_phases



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Crew as Family, Food, M/M, breakfast with the family, hangover cures, my grandpa used to love head cheese actually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:07:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22647625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/proserpine_in_phases/pseuds/proserpine_in_phases
Summary: The party at the Citadel became an annual tradition after the war, and with it came the traditional morning after breakfast.
Relationships: Male Shepard/Garrus Vakarian
Comments: 4
Kudos: 64





	I'll wake up every morning as long as it's with you

**Author's Note:**

> happy holiday harbinger!

“I can’t believe I ate the levo cheese again,” Tali was lamenting as Garrus finally made his way into the dining room.

Garrus slouched down at the table between Shepard and Tali, nibbling on a strip of jerky to settle his stomach a little. Last night’s annual reunion party had been more of a bangar than usual, and he was nursing a bit of a hangover. Shepard smirked sympathetically at him over the rim of his coffee up. Ten years of living with Shepard and the mostly human crew of the Normandy had long acquainted Garrus with the human symptoms of a hangover, and a quick survey of the room showed most of the humans displaying them prominently: baggy eyes, pale faces, strong stimulants clutched in weary hands. Traynor even had her head on the table, groaning softly into her folded arms, lamenting the folly of trying to match drinks with biotics. Only Jimmy Vega, whistling cheerfully in the kitchen as he prepared his ‘patented hangover cure,’ and Jack looked like they’d survived the night unscathed.

Wrex, on the other side of the table, displayed no such adverse affects, whatever those might look like on a krogan. His chuckle rumbled like thunder through the room. “Don’t you accidentally eat levo cheese every year?” he asked Tali.

Tali sipped delicately at her emergency induction port. It was still weird, seeing her without the mask on. The wonders of geth-assisted suit tech these days allowed her to keep it off for up to several days at a time, provided she kept up on her immunoboosters and allergen suppressants. “Yes, well, cheese is delicious,” she said.

“There’s enough lactose intolerant humans who eat cheese to back that fact up,” Miranda said, shooting a pointed look at Jacob. He just rolled his eyes, but Shepard chuckled.

“What can I say,” he said. “Cheese is in fact delicious.”

“Even if the concept of it is really disgusting,” Garrus said, nose plate shifting in disgust. “Bacteria and fermented sweat gland excretions don’t sound like a treat to me.”

“It’s not simply sweat glands,” Miranda started, arms crossing over her chest. “It’s-”

“I really don’t want to know too much about freaky mammalian biology,” he interrupted with a cheeky flair of his mandibles. 

“Just enough to get your boyfriend off, ey Garrus?” Jack exclaimed with a raucous laugh.

“Ah, Jack, always elevating the conversation with your insight.” Miranda rolled her eyes.

The table fell silent for a moment.

“In my cycle, the fermented blood of the Neoli was a high delicacy,” Javik suddenly said.

The humans at the table groaned while Wrex snorted. “Hah. Varren liver sliced thin and served raw is one of the finest foods, if you ask me.”

“Not as good as pyjack though,” Grunt muttered from under the table. Garrus jumped a little, not having noticed the junior krogan. “Or those, ugh. Those.” Grunt bumped his head on the underside of the table before peaking over the edge. “Those earth water bugs. Ugh. You know.”

“Crab?” Miranda suggested.

“He really liked the lobster when we took him out last month,” Shepard said. 

“Yeah, lob. Lobster. Gotta just. Love the cronch,” Grunt nodded before going back under the table.

Wrex shook his head. “One of these days that kid’ll learn no one can hold ryncol like I can,” he rumbled.

“Lobster does sound really good right now,” Miranda said with a dreamy look in her eye.

“Humans eat bugs?” Tali said, slightly disgusted.

Jack laughed. “Humans will eat anything,” she boasted. “Ever heard of haggis? Balut? Or head cheese?”

“Jack, don’t traumatize her,” Shepard said, laughing slightly.

“Head cheese?” Tali asked, intrigued.

“It’s where you--”

“Do NOT describe how to make head cheese,” Traynor said, finally sitting up. “I’m trying NOT to throw up this morning. Again.”

Kaidan, who had been sitting with a slightly dazed look on his face this whole time, sighed. “All this food talk really makes me want some venison.” He hummed. “Yeah, some pork cut venison sausage would really hit the spot right now.”

Vega, from the kitchen, laughed. “All this food talk makes it sound like you guys are ready for my eggs!” he said. “Well come and get it!” Most of the humans and Wrex filed out of the room, eager to get at them. Vega’s eggs were, according to the levo based beings who could actually eat them, actually as delicious as he claimed, and they were as much a part of the annual reunion as binge drinking and shit talking. 

“And for you, Sam,” Vega came into the room, setting down a tall glass with a flourish. “One hangover cure.”

Garrus watched, fascinated and disgusted as Vega cracked a raw egg into the glass, then poured on several different human hot sauces before mixing the vile concoction with a fork and presented it to Traynor. Her nose wrinkled in what Garrus could only call revulsion and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

“I’m not drinking that,” she said. “Cooked eggs only, James.”

The tabled jumped as Grunt sat up again, and then poked his head back out from underneath. “I’ll drink it,” he said.

Vega laughed and slid the glass over to the krogan, before pulling out a bottle of water and a pill packet and passing them to Traynor. “I was just fucking with you, Smarty-pants. Here you go. You should probably still get some eggs though. No better cure for a hangover than a good breakfast to soak up the alcohol.”

Grunt drained the glass in one go. “Ugh,” he said, and then fell back under the table.

Garrus shook his head, catching Shepard’s eye from the kitchen as he grinned fondly at the scene. He felt his mandibles flick in response, warmth filling his chest and relaxing his plates. Later today they’d leave again on the Normandy, Vega and Traynor and Javik with them, but the rest of them would scatter, Wrex and Grunt and Tali to their slowly healing homeworlds, Jack and Kaidan back to their biotic trainees, Miranda and Jacob to whatever secret destinations they had. It was no guarantee they’d see them next year: after all Liara and the others had been too wrapped up in the recovery to make it this year. 

All Garrus knew was that he wanted to hang onto this warmth for as long as possible, and as Shepard sat next to him again, brushing soft human lips across his brow as he did, he knew Shepard would hold onto him just as fiercely.


End file.
